Drinking to cope: a comparison of questionnaire and electronic diary reports

The purpose of this article is to assess the correspondence between questionnaire reports of dispositional drinking to cope (DTC) and different indices of daily DTC in a sample of nondependent heavy drinkers.

Data from electronic diary (ED) records of interpersonal problems, negative affect, coping and drinking were used to examine how questionnaire reports of dispositional DTC corresponded to ED reports of daily DTC and to within-person associations among ED reports of negative affect, interpersonal problems and drinking. In the current study, 98 community-residing heavy drinkers using EDs recorded moods, interpersonal problems, coping attempts, desire to drink and drinking for 21 consecutive days.

The findings demonstrate correspondence between questionnaire reports of dispositional DTC and (1) ED reports of daily DTC, (2) intensity of negative mood associated with daily drinking initiation and (3) some between-person differences in within-day prediction of drinking and desire to drink from mood and interpersonal problem ratings. Those reporting higher dispositional DTC were somewhat more likely to drink in response to some negative moods and less likely to drink in response to some positive moods than those reporting relatively lower dispositional DTC, but these findings were mixed.

Questionnaire reports of dispositional DTC are at best inconsistently linked to observed within-person associations among daily moods, interpersonal problems and drinking even among heavy drinkers.